We went to pass the summer and autumn at Sorrento, where we led a very quiet but happy life. The villa we lived in was at a short distance from and above the town, quite buried in groves of oranges and lemons, beyond which lay the sea, generally calm and blue, sometimes stormy; to our left the islands of Ischia and Procida, the Capo Miseno, with Baia, Pozzuoli, and Posilipo; exactly opposite to us, Naples, then Vesuvius, and all the little towns on that coast, and lastly, to our right, this wonderful panorama was bounded by the fine cliffs of the Monte Santangelo. It was beautiful always, but most beautiful when the sun, setting behind Ischia, sent a perfect glory over the rippling sea, and tinged the Monte Santangelo and the cliffs which bound the Piano di Sorrento literally with purple and gold. I spent the whole day on a charming terrace sheltered from the sun, and there we dined and passed the evening watching the lights of Naples reflected in the water and the revolving lights of the different lighthouses. I often drove to Massa till after sunset, for from that road I could see the island of Capri, and I scarcely know a more lovely drive. Besides the books we took with us we had newspapers, reviews, and other periodicals, so that we were never dull. On one occasion my daughters and I made an expedition up the hills to the Deserto, from whence one can see the Gulf of Salerno and the fine mountains of Calabria. My daughters rode and I was carried in a _portantina_. It was fine, clear, autumnal weather, and I enjoyed my expedition immensely, nor was I fatigued. * * * * * In November we returned to Naples, where I resumed my usual life. I had received a copy of Hamilton's Lectures on Quaternions from the Rev. Whitewell Elwin. I am not acquainted with that gentleman, and am the more grateful to him. I have now a valuable library of scientific books and transactions of scientific societies, the greater part gifts from the authors.